[Tango Tuners]Iberian Project C425 Renault Clio V6

Ratings at a glance:
Speed 4.9
Handling 5.8
Acceleration 5.1
Launch 6.3
Brakes 6.0

HP 264
Torque 232 lbs ft
weight 2616 lbs
RWD

First Impressions: Tango Tuners Renault paint is eyecatching and the graphics very expertly applied. For some reason though there’s something missing that I can’t put my finger on. It’s a free download so can’t complain at the price. The tune feels superb with silky smooth cornering and hardly any tyre squealing. Time for a few races.

On The Tracks. I went for the Toyo 300hp Run off race series to test this car, primarily because it was the first I found with the Iberian circuit the car is tuned for as part of the series. So on the Iberian full circuit I went. This being one of the FM3 tracks, I am still on a learning curve for the track and finding where I can push and where I can’t. This showed up a tendency for the car to break loose if I had to back off mid corner after misjudging my entry speed. It felt like it had a lot of rear Decel on the diff? That aside, get the speeds right and your turn in points correct, and the Renault will go around very quickly and surefooted. Eventually my new PB was a 58.802 at #1122 on the LB’s which I am happy with.

Next I picked the Ladera Reverse track, another of those I need to practise on. I found some time after the first few bad laps and eventually dropped to 56.926 seconds for a lap giving me another LB place just out of the top thousand at #1149. Not sure if I was avoiding backing off the throttle or if the track surface made the rear end lock ups less noticable but I didn’t suffer the rear end lock so much at Ladera.

Sedona Club Reverse was the next pick, a track I absolutely detest and hardly ever run so this would be interesting. It was, Sedona has those turns which tighten midway through, which I’m really struggling with sans ABS, and the deceleartion hit me again a few times as I tried to lose speed for those turns. After a few laps I managed a couple of decent ones to get #1648 on the LB with a 1:19.448 laptime.

I had left two tracks I knew from FM2 for last. Sebring Club being the first of those two for me to race on. Although I know Seb well, I also used the kerbs a lot in FM2 , and I found clipping a kerb in the Clio would cause the rear to lose traction very quickly. To be fair though FM3 seems to have made the kerbs almost a no-go area anyway, so that needs a driving adjustment from me. Kerb issues aside, I managed to run a 1:14.647 but no new PB in the Renault.

Finally I ran Mugello full for the 4 lap race. The first lap I was looking for some indication of where the limits of the car might be, and the Tango tune is very stable on all the turns of Mugello so I was still looking in lap 2. Laps 3 and 4 gave better results, but somewhere in the middle of lap 4 I lost half a second and missed out on a new PB. As it was the Tango Tuned Iberian racecar was just a tenth off my old PB on lap 3 and lap 4 should have been a new one quite a bit faster than before. 2:06.428 was my best Mugello lap so far in the Renault though.

The Verdict: A very nicely applied paint which was just lacking that something to make it special. A free paint though if you want a prettier than standard car, and this is still pretty. The tune is very planted and has plenty of acceleration and speed. If you are running the designated Iberian tracks then Tango Tuners have you covered if you know the track. The Clio really does feel good there apart from the oversteer caused by backing off mid-corner if you try to make a correction. It also feels good on most other tracks and will do well as a lobby car with it’s superb handling. Free paint and tune I believe, just search for Tango Tuners to find it on the storefront.